Quick Green Reads For The Weekend Volume One Hundred.

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Wow, 100 Quick Green Reads…who would have thought? I just looked back and saw that not a single Friday was missed, so that means just about 2 full years of this feature. I hope you guys like this weekly dose of interesting articles I find, as I don’t normally link to news stories the rest of the week.

As of last night, a US marshall, 2 state police and a county police are all over Mr. Hixon’s area, serving notices to farmers that they are being sued by Monsanto. They arrive in pairs, with two cars parked a quarter mile and half mile down the road. They’ve served 3 so far and said “a bunch more are coming.” No telling how many will be served since Hixon has between 200-400 farmers he cleans seeds for and these farmers have been repeatedly threatened by Monsanto thugs for the last two months, getting “visits,” letters, and calls daily. Farmers report that a Monsanto investigator laughed that they were doing “rural cleansing.”

I love supporting small businesses, and tend to be very suspicious of “big corporate,” which is probably no big surprise to anyone. I always flinch just a little when I talk about Burt’s Bees products, even though I love their Super Shiny Shampoo and Conditioner more than any other hair care product I’ve ever tried. Burt’s Bees is no longer owned by that folksy, bearded man named Burt. Burt’s Bees is now owned by Clorox.

When it comes to heating your house, radiant floor heating may be one of the most energy efficient ways to go, but installing it is such a hassle that you’re probably better just adding attic insulation and sealing up all of your windows instead. Well, now there’s a plug in version of the radiant heating concept that’s way cheaper and easier to install.

Connecticut is just one state where a rebate program for home and business owners who purchase solar systems was so popular, the funds backing it have dried up. Until now, Connecticut’s solar rebate program was one of the better run and most generous in the United States. Since 2005, more than $85 million has been doled out for 815 residential solar projects and 127 business and government projects. Similar problems are popping up elsewhere, too. In Maryland, for instance state officials had to put a freeze on their solar energy grant program and close the waiting list.

While many of us love to get down and dirty in the garden or on the trails, you’ll find others shrieking if the brown agent comes into contact with their skin or clothes. Regardless of ones inclinations, the simple fact remains that dirt’s a part of life. Not only is it a part of life, but it’s one of the key ingredients necessary for life on this planet.

Don’t flush cleaning wipes! But you aren’t using cleaning wipes, anyways, are you? Oh, it’s okay, maybe you haven’t taken that baby step yet. So if you are using wipes, please don’t flush them down the toilet (even if the manufacturer says it’s okay). Shelby Wood, the awesome sustainability blogger/journalist for The Oregonian had a bit about this in today’s paper. Check this out: “Clean Water Services, the public utility in Washington County, says workers pull 1000 gallons of wipes out of pump stations each month. Every other day, they must shut down a pump station just to clear wipe clogs.”